Health Myths Created by the "Father of Spin" - Do You Still Believe Them?

Story at-a-glance

Many medication studies published in leading journals have been found to be sponsored by drug manufacturers and include deceptive statistical reporting and wording.

The flu vaccine is a perfect example of medical manipulation, with research concluding the effectiveness of the shots to be as low as one percent. In addition, the “gold standard” for scientific reviews has repeatedly found that there is little to no evidence backing flu vaccines as an effective flu prevention strategy. Despite this, they are still pushed by mainstream health officials.

The reason why much of the population believes in mainstream medicine can be traced back to the PR campaigns of Edward Bernays, the so-called father of spin. Bernays focused on 'conditioning' consumers into believing many mainstream medical fallacies.

By Dr. Mercola

New research has revealed just how misleading and questionable the results of medication studies cited in top medical journals actually are -- adding to an already sizeable mountain of data on mainstream medical manipulation.

Pharmaceutical and vaccine makers are continually found to be sponsoring the very institution performing the study on the effectiveness of their product.

Such is the case with a recent inquiry that examined the trustworthiness of top drug trials.

Investigators from UCLA and Harvard recently analyzed the randomized drug trials from six prestigious journals, reaching a conclusion that brings into question the overall credibility of many top medication studies and those who perform them.

The investigative team found that many of these pharmaceutical studies were sponsored by the drug manufacturers; sponsors who the report states "may promote the use of outcomes that are most likely to indicate favorable results for their products."

In fact many of these studies have been found to utilize different statistical techniques in order to establish the supposed safety of many medications that may actually be harmful to you.

"It's one thing to say a medication lowers your risk of heart attacks from two-in-a-million to one-in-a-million, and something completely different to say a medication lowers your risk of heart attacks by 50 percent. Both ways of presenting the data are technically correct, but the second way, using relative numbers, could be misleading."

It is important to remember that the investigation analyzed not one, but six prominent medical journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the British Medical Journal and theArchives of Internal Medicine. All of these journals were found to contain misleading data.

In addition to using imprecise numbers, many study authors have also been found to use deceptive outcome measures such as:

Surrogate outcomes: which is used to measure a heart medication's ability to lower blood pressure. This form of outcome measurement is not a good indicator of the medication's impact on more important clinical outcomes such as heart attacks.

Composite outcomes: a statistic that lumps together individual outcomes of unequal importance, like hospitalizations and death, into a single category. This makes it extremely difficult to ascertain the medication’s true effects.

Disease-specific mortality: a measurement that measures death from a specific cause. This can be especially misleading because even if a given medication reduces your chances of death from one disease, it may also increase your risk of death from another cause. The increased chance of death may even be significantly greater.

Flu Shot Ineffectiveness Exposes Medical Manipulation

Unfortunately, this is far from the first documented incident of study results being manipulated by outside financial interests. "Checkbook science," as it is called, is rampant throughout the biomedical research and publishing industries. Basically, drug and chemical companies write the checks and the research institutions, whether private or public, manufacture the science needed to promote their financier's products.

In fact, conflicts of interest like these are so widespread that in the past 15 months alone, 63 peer-reviewed articles discuss drug industry bias, according to PubMed.

With pharmaceutical drugs continually being linked to deadly diseases -- despite FDA approval and the recommendation of government health officials -- it is quite easy to see past the pharma bias that has corrupted the scientific process. In fact, if you have been following the flu vaccine, which is now being pushed harder than ever by the CDC and other mainstream health organizations, then you already know this.

The shocking lack of evidence supporting the seasonal flu vaccine, which now also contains the dangerous swine-origin H1N1 vaccine, reveals how media manipulation and drug bias can lead to incorrect public perception over the effects of the flu shot.

Why are "Gold Standard" Reviews Ignored?

It is a well-kept secret of the medical establishment -- particularly the CDC – that the Cochrane Database Review, which is the gold standard within the evidence-based medical model for assessing the effectiveness of common medical interventions, does not lend clear scientific support to the heavily toted concept that flu vaccines are safe and effective.

To the contrary, the Cochrane Database Review reveals that there is a stunning lack of evidence to support the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in healthy adults, the elderly, and healthcare workers who care for the elderly. Disturbingly, most of these aforementioned groups compromise the demographic to which the CDC aggressively recommends the seasonal flu shot.

Even more concerning is the fact that the flu vaccine may be most detrimental to the health of your children. According to the Cochrane Database Review, only one unbiased safety study on inactivated flu vaccines has ever been performed in children under two -- the very population that is most susceptible to adverse reactions.

And this study did not prove with any certainty that they are safe.

Despite the lack of evidence showing the safety of the vaccine on this age group, the current guidelines in United States and Canada recommend the vaccination of healthy children from as young as six months old. As if incessant government coercion were not enough, the PBS Kids cartoon series -- Sid the Science Kid -- is being used as propaganda to circumvent parental authority and directly brainwash kids into getting the flu vaccine.

What is perhaps most disturbing of all is that receiving the H1N1-loaded seasonal flu shot can actually increase your risk of developing H1N1 flu. The finding surfaced after the global pandemic declared by the World Health Organization in 2009, proving the ineffectiveness of the flu vaccine at preventing the flu. Researchers found that after receiving the seasonal flu vaccine, Canadian participants actually had an increased risk of developing H1N1. As it turns out, vaccines may actually decrease your resistance to viral infection through suppressing and/or imbalancing your immune system.

Ineffective, Dangerous, Yet Still Pushed by Health Officials

Not only is there a shocking lack of evidence supporting the use of the flu vaccine, but a number of studies have actually confirmed the danger and ineffectiveness of the shots.

One major study determined that the best the flu vaccine could do during a season where, in the rare case, the vaccine actually matched the wild-type strains in circulation, was to reduce the risk of influenza infection by a paltry one percent relative to unvaccinated controls. This means that despite receiving the shot – riddled, as it is, with side effects such as the debilitating and potentially deadly nerve disease Guillain-Barre Syndrome -- there is still an overwhelming likelihood that you will not be protected from the flu as a result of receiving the vaccine.

The reason for this has to do with how flu strains work. Along with the faulty science behind the creation of the vaccine, the act of determining which flu strains will affect your area is pretty much a guessing game. Mainstream medical officials urge you to receive the shot, but health officials are fully aware that it is truly impossible to know for sure which strain to vaccinate against.

With such a wide selection of strains (hundreds, if not thousands), it is very rare for officials to actually pick the correct strains – the best case scenario is that an appropriate match will occur 10 percent of the time, according to the study.

The findings of the study do not stop there. The researchers also highlighted other findings about the flu vaccine, which topple the mainstream concept of their safety and effectiveness:

"Vaccine use did not affect the number of people hospitalized or working days lost."

"The analysis showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions…"

"There is no evidence that [influenza vaccines] affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission." — Meaning vaccines do not affect transmission of disease, what they are designed for.

"In average conditions (partially matching vaccine) 100 people need to be vaccinated to avoid one set of influenza symptoms."

As you can see, flu shots are virtually ineffective, and come with a heavy price.

Even government officials have admitted the link between flu shots and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. A government agency known as The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a warning over the connection following the phony swine flu pandemic. The news came after mainstream media reported on the fact that even 50 percent of doctors were refusing the H1N1 vaccine over health concerns.

With all of the negative evidence coming out, how can the public still believe that the flu shot is still a viable option?

How Americans Have Been Led to Believe in Medical Lies

If you live in the United States, then you undoubtedly have been exposed to the mass conditioning. With the average American being accosted with thousands of advertisements each day, whether blatant or not, many pieces of "conventional wisdom" are actually contrived and implanted into the society. One method of doing so is through driving public opinion -- the idea that if most people believe it, then it must be true.

In America, conventional wisdom that has mass acceptance is usually contrived: somebody paid for it. Examples include:

Pharmaceuticals restore health

Vaccination brings immunity

The cure for cancer is just around the corner

When a child is sick, he needs immediate antibiotics

When a child has a fever he needs Tylenol

Hospitals are safe and clean

America has the best health care in the world

And many, many more

Such examples of 'conventional wisdom' have cost billions to conjure up, and have led to even more in profits.

The Spin Doctors have Been Hard at Work

The history of conditioning can be traced back to the early part of the last century, specifically the work of guys like Edward L. Bernays, known as the "Father of Spin." Edward L. Bernays took the ideas of his famous uncle Sigmund Freud, and applied them to the emerging science of mass persuasion. However, instead of using the psychological principles to uncover hidden themes in the human unconscious in the way Freudian psychology does, Bernays used them as a marketing tool.

It was this method that led Bernays to become wildly successful in the field of PR and marketing, conditioning Americans to buy into corporate lies.

Bernays dominated the PR industry until the 1940s, and was a significant force for another 40 years after that. During all that time, Bernays took on hundreds of diverse assignments to create a public perception about some idea or product.

A few examples:

As a neophyte with the Committee on Public Information, one of Bernays' first assignments was to help sell the First World War to the American public with the idea to "Make the World Safe for Democracy."

A few years later, Bernays set up a stunt to popularize the notion of women smoking cigarettes. In organizing the 1929 Easter Parade in New York City, Bernays showed himself as a force to be reckoned with.

He organized the Torches of Liberty Brigade in which suffragettes marched in the parade smoking cigarettes as a mark of women's liberation. Such publicity followed from that one event that smoking became quite prevalent in women.

Bernays popularized the idea of bacon for breakfast.

Bernays was also responsible for setting up the advertising format in conjunction with the AMA that aimed to prove cigarettes are beneficial to your health. The campaign lasted nearly 50 years, and the ads can still be seen in issues of Life or Time from the 40s and 50s.

The work of Bernays led to major corporations adopting the same psychological conditioning principles, and Bernays soon had more corporate clients than he could handle. Global corporations began utilizing the tactics on customers, bringing traditional advertising to another level. There were dozens of goods and services and ideas to be sold to a susceptible public. Over the years, these players have had the money to make their images happen.

A few examples:

Philip Morris

Pfizer

Union Carbide

Allstate

Monsanto

Eli Lilly

tobacco industry

Ciba Geigy

lead industry

Coors

DuPont

Chlorox

Shell Oil

Standard Oil

Procter & Gamble

Boeing

General Motors

Dow Chemical

General Mills

Goodyear

How to Break Free From the Conditioning Affecting Your Health

It is easy to see that vaccines and many other medical 'treatments' do not have solid scientific backing, and instead have been falsely established as unequivocally safe and effective solutions thanks to widespread conditioning in the manner of Edward L. Bernays.

Even the flu vaccine, shown to work in only one person in 100 and increase your risk of serious, even life threatening adverse effects, has been propped up as the best method of preventing the flu.

Thankfully, you can break free of the drug conditioning trap right now by following these natural health principles. I have not caught a flu in over two decades, and you can avoid it too, without getting vaccinated. Following these guidelines will help to keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with.

Avoid sugar and processed foods. Sugar (especially fructose) decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately, and as you likely know, a strong immune system is key to fighting off viruses and other illness. Be aware that sugar is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice.

Get enough rest. Just like it becomes harder for you to get your daily tasks done if you're tired, if your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my article Guide to a Good Night's Sleep for some great tips to help you get quality rest.

If you feel that stress is taking a toll on your health, consider using an effective energy psychology tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique, which is remarkably effective in relieving stress associated with all kinds of events, from work to family to trauma.

Exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads. You can review my exercise guidelines for some great tips on how to get started.

Take a good source of animal-based omega-3 fats like krill oil. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils like trans fats found in most processed foods, as it will seriously damage your immune response.

Wash your hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure you don't use antibacterial soap for this -- antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.

Eat garlic regularly. Garlic works like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against bacteria, virus, and protozoa in the body. And unlike with antibiotics, no resistance can be built up so it is an absolutely safe product to use. However, if you are allergic or don't enjoy garlic it would be best to avoid as it will likely cause more harm than good.

Avoid hospitals whenever possible. I'd recommend you stay away from hospitals unless you're having an emergency, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds, and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to flu bugs.

Drug company bias and social conditioning has truly covered up the most effective ways in which you can improve your health and your family's health. In order to truly take control of your health, it is essential that you break free from the conditioning of faulty "conventional wisdom" while also avoiding harmful medical interventions like the ineffective and dangerous flu vaccine. Remember that when you apply the principles above you can Take Control of Your Health!

(Send your news to foodconsumer.org@gmail.com, Foodconsumer.org is part of
the Infoplus.com ™ news and information network)